Former banker expected to come under intense pressure to quit as report set to find that he broke the code on public appointmentsThe chairman of the BBC breached the rules in failing to declare his involvement in an £800,000 loan to Boris Johnson prior to his appointment, an official investigation has concluded.
Richard Sharp will come under intense pressure to quit as head of the corporation following Friday’s expected publication of the findings of the two-month long inquiry.
The report by Adam Heppinstall KC has found that Mr Sharp broke the code on public appointments by failing to inform the committee that interviewed him.
Mr Sharp helped put Sam Blyth, a distant relative of Mr Johnson’s, in touch with Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, because Mr Blyth wanted to provide the then prime minister with the loan facility.
Mr Sharp believed at the time that, having flagged the issue of his BBC application with Mr Case, he did not need to declare it to the appointment panel.
The Telegraph understands that the inquiry has found Mr Sharp’s breach created a perception of a conflict of interest.
Mr Sharp, 67, a former Goldman Sachs banker, will inevitably be forced to consider his position but is reluctant to resign, it is understood.
If Mr Sharp refuses to quit, Rishi Sunak will have to decide his fate - presenting the Prime Minister with a second major dilemma, just a week after Dominic Raab was forced to resign following an inquiry into alleged bullying.
Allies of Mr Sharp have suggested he could survive because they believe that the inquiry scotches any suggestion that he was appointed BBC chairman as a consequence of the facilitation of the loan deal.
He has argued that he had no involvement in the arrangement of the loan guarantee to Mr Johnson and did not act in “bad faith” in failing to declare the approach made to him by a businessman wanting to ease Mr Johnson’s then financial difficulties.
But Mr Heppinstall has judged Mr Sharp’s omission was a technical breach, which the BBC chairman has now conceded. The senior barrister, it is understood, has accepted Mr Sharp’s version of events.
It is unclear if the chairman can survive calls for his resignation but insists that if he does have to leave the BBC, he will do so with his reputation at least partially restored by Mr Heppinstall's conclusions.
Mr Sunak will be reluctant to act, because the pair remain close friends.
Mr Sharp was for a period Mr Sunak’s boss at Goldman Sachs and was drafted into Number 11 Downing Street by the then chancellor to work on the Treasury’s response to the Covid crisis.
The Labour Party may not wish to demand Mr Sharp’s resignation, because that would give Mr Sunak the chance to pick another BBC chairman on a four-year contract.
Mr Sharp’s term of office runs out in February 2025, by which time Sir Keir Starmer could be prime minister.